Unsafe Medical Devices & Drugs

Chris Welsh, Esq. A California jury has granted a $5.7 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson, and its subsidiary, Ethicon Inc., for failing to warn health care providers of the risks associated with their defectively designed transvaginal mesh device. It is the fourth plaintiffs’ victory against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon regarding the mesh devices (“TVMs”). To date, over 25,000 claims have been brought in state and federal courts against the suppliers. The lead plaintiff, Coleen Perry, had the Ethicon device implanted to treat stress urinary incontinence in 2011. Within a year, she had to have surgery to remove parts …

Chris Welsh, Esq. www.welsh-law.com A Philadelphia state court jury has ordered Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. to pay more than $2.3 million in damages to a plaintiff suffering bladder cancer. The plaintiff is the fifth Actos victim to be awarded damages by a jury. Jury members found that Japan-based Takeda failed to adequately warn the plaintiff’s doctors about the drug Actos’s cancer risks. Actos, also known as Pioglitazone, is a drug used to treat adults with type 2 diabetes and poses risk of heart failure, heart attack, and bladder cancer. Despite thousands of lawsuits, the FDA has yet to recall the drug …

If you or a loved one has suffered serious side effects from Levaquin, Cipro or Avelox, you may be able to pursue legal action. Levaquin (levofloxacin) is a powerful antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. It has been linked to serious and permanent side effects, including damage to patients’ nerves and a condition known as peripheral neuropathy. These harmful effects are irreversible and can be deadly. Levaquin is in a company of other fluoroquinolones. Levaquin was approved for sale in the U.S. in 1996 for the treatment of serious, life-threatening infections, such as meningitis. However, there has been growing evidence …

Chris Welsh, Esq. The FDA now demands a ‘Black Box Warning’ for power morcellators, a device used in performing hysterectomies and to remove fibroid tumors. The warning is the most serious that the agency issues. The warning for power morcellators will state the following: “Uterine tissue may contain contain unsuspected cancer. The use of laparoscopic power morcellators during fibroid surgery may spread cancer and decrease the long-term survival of patients. This information should be shared with patients when considering surgery with the use of these devices.” Reportedly, the device has been available for two decades to break up tissue into …

Chris Welsh, Esq. The tide in transvaginal mesh litigation took an unusual move last month. A federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation urged defendant supplier, C.R. Bard, to settle the thousands of lawsuits or face the likelihood of billion dollar rewards by juries. “I base that billions of dollars business on some of the rather large verdicts we’ve had,” he said at the hearing. Reportedly, there are roughly 10,000 cases pending against C.R. Bard in that particular multidistrict litigation, which is taking place in West Virginia. The litigation follows big decisions against suppliers of defective transvaginal devices, including C.R. Bard, Boston …